“Treasury teams have identified political/regulatory uncertainty as the leading risk in 2025—a significant leap from its fifth-place ranking in 2024. Fears of an economic downturn remain high and while this risk is down from the top spot in 2024, it received the most No. 1 rankings among participants”, as per NeuGroup’s 2025 Treasury Outlook Survey Report.

NeuGroup surveyed treasury leaders from nearly 100 large enterprises, 96% of which report annual revenues exceeding US$1 billion, to explore shifting priorities, talent strategies, and technology investments in treasury. Here are the key findings:

Tariffs among the topics top of mind for treasurers

Treasury leaders are preparing for continued volatility in 2025, with 87% closely monitoring the potential impact of tariffs on inflation and the broader economy.

                            Biggest Impacts Under New Administration

Source: NeuGroup’s 2025 Treasury Outlook Survey Report

Building on these concerns, a recent NeuGroup’s survey notes, “Uncertainty around the duration and level of the tariffs is creating challenges for treasury teams optimizing capital structure and future investments. The unknown response from trading partners also poses risks for many companies.”

While tariffs remain the dominant priority, treasury professionals are also keeping a watchful eye on a range of other possible changes. According to the same survey, 57% are focused on likely changes in corporate tax rates, while 53% are monitoring the stability and strength of the US dollar—particularly its role as the currency of choice in international trade. Additionally, 42% of survey respondents are paying close attention to M&A opportunities and financing for sector consolidation, underscoring the strategic importance of capital allocation amid ongoing policy shifts and regulatory uncertainty.

“At the start of the year members anticipated favorable conditions for mergers and acquisitions; however, they continue to maintain a ‘wait and see’ approach as global trade policies and regulatory changes settle,” added the NeuGroup survey.

Hiring and retaining the right talent still a leading priority for treasurers

The NeuGroup survey points out that securing and retaining the right treasury talent continues to be a key focus, driven by rising expectations around risk management, liquidity oversight, and technology implementation.

Despite human capital continuing to rank high on the treasurer’s agenda, a growing push for operational efficiency is leading more companies to trim treasury staff—13% plan treasury headcount cuts in 2025, compared to just 4% in 2024, though most (67%) aim to keep team sizes unchanged.

                                FTE in Treasury and Staffing Plans

Source: NeuGroup’s 2025 Treasury Outlook Survey Report

This trend becomes even more pronounced among the largest firms. “Notably, the percentage of companies that plan to reduce headcount increases to over 20% when segmenting for firms with $20 billion or more in revenue. This reflects the growing impact of cost pressures and the increasing effort to boost efficiency in treasury operations”, observed the NeuGroup’s survey report.

The move toward leaner teams isn’t just about reducing expenses or cost reduction. As treasury evolves, there is a growing emphasis on assembling smaller, highly skilled teams that can enable them to do more with less and scale more effectively. The NeuGroup survey report demonstrates this trend with data showing a decline in treasury full-time equivalents (FTEs) per $1 billion in revenue as “company revenue increases”, indicating greater efficiency through improved resource utilisation.

Technology remains a treasury imperative

“Technology is critical to treasury operations. That point was reinforced by members when asked about planned changes to their operating models in 2025”, according to the NeuGroup’s survey report.

Over 57% of treasurers are planning to implement or upgrade technology solutions, primarily treasury management systems (TMS) and enterprise resource planning (ERP) platforms — while also placing greater emphasis on artificial intelligence (AI) adoption.

Treasury leaders are eager to embed AI and machine learning (ML) into their workflows to enhance efficiency. The survey reveals that AI usage is set to more than double in the next 12 months. Common AI use cases in treasury include chatbots for answering treasury policy queries, machine learning models for cash flow forecasting, and machine learning integration in share repurchase algorithms.

                    Operating Models Will Involve Technology in 2025

Source: NeuGroup’s 2025 Treasury Outlook Survey Report

Alongside technological advancement, treasury teams are also refining operating models through greater centralization. Nearly a third (29%) are pushing more operations into existing shared service centres, while 18% are centralizing activities at headquarters, and 11% are creating offshore treasury centres.  Treasury respondents also cited plans to utilize cost-efficient centres of excellence and global business services (GBS) organizations. Interestingly, 19% of survey participants reported no planned operational changes for 2025.

Other areas of change highlighted in the comments include leveraging cost-efficient centres of excellence and global business services organizations. Notably, 19% of participants do not plan any operational changes for 2025.

In conclusion, while cyber risk, intensifying competition, financial market volatility, and elevated borrowing costs continue to command attention, it’s the strategic trio of tariffs, talent, and technology that will dominate the treasurer’s operating priorities in an economically uncertain, cost-conscious, and efficiency-focused landscape.

For the remainder of 2025, treasury leaders must do more than manage risk—they must navigate tariffs, build leaner and smarter teams, and drive technology transformation. The ability to respond swiftly to economic and geopolitical shifts, regulatory changes, and rapid technological advancements will define not just treasury’s relevance—but its strategic value to the enterprise.